From folk to hip-hop, Mat Kearney fits it all together

September 02, 2006|By Ned Donovan Special to The Morning Call -- Freelance

Mat Kearney has come a long way since his 2004 record, "Bullet," was released by a small independent Christian label owned by one of his friends. How far? Tonight, the highly touted -- and independent-minded -- Eugene, Ore.-born singer-songwriter will open for John Mayer and Sheryl Crow at the Tweeter Center in Camden, N.J., before heading off on his own headlining tour in a couple of weeks.

"Bullet" sold about 40,000 copies, which brought many labels knocking on Kearney's door, interested in his unique blend of hip-hop and folk. However, Kearney held them off, waiting until he refined his music into what he wanted people to hear.

Two years later, after signing with Columbia Records' Aware imprint, Kearney delivered "Nothing Left To Lose," one of the best albums of 2006. The 13-track disc, featuring six remixed "Bullet" tunes, has a flow from song to song that most artists would kill to have created.

Early last month, Kearney told CBS' "The Saturday Early Show" that he was influenced by "everyone from Bob Dylan to Bob Marley to A Tribe Called Quest" and that his Christianity inspires his music. Recently he spent 25 minutes talking about how it all fits together.

Q: You produced "Bullet" in Nashville for an independent Christian label, but when I listen to "Nothing Left To Lose," I can hear your faith imprinted only very slightly in the music. Is it meant to be a subtle reference for people to find as they will?

A: I don't know how to answer that. It is what it is, and it's there. It's a big part of the world, and what part of my album it is, will be defined by other people. Some people will find it the focal point, and others will find it a minor part. It's all in the eyes of the beholder.

Q: Well, then, what is your focal point of your music? Is it the writing? The recording? The performances?

A: I love creating. I think that's really enjoyable, and I also love going out and sharing that with people and getting out in front of them. Those are the two things that I enjoy very much about what I'm doing.

Q: "Nothing Left To Lose" was the product of years of work. After performing alongside artists such as Nickel Creek and Duncan Sheik, you're now touring with John Mayer and Sheryl Crow. Who has been your favorite?

A: I played with The Fray for a while, about three weeks, and I loved playing with them. I also performed with Glenn Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket. But I don't know I'm very much looking forward to being with John Mayer and Sheryl Crow. I just think they're amazingly talented musicians.

Q: Speaking of musicianship, there's a variety of instruments used on your new album. Which ones are played by you?

A: I play acoustic guitar and piano, and sometimes I jump on the electric.

Q: Which of those instruments came first for you?

A: Guitar. Piano is very new to me; I've been playing it for like two years.

Q: A trademark of your music is that you use a large amount of spoken word and poetry. What does that add to the album?

A: I love the urgency of spoken word and how aggressive it is. It's very real in a reality way It shocks you a little bit, which I like.

Q: What about the musicians who perform with you? Do you use the same group?

A: Most of the musicians on the album were friends of mine, and my buddy (Robert Marvin) and I co-produced it. The group changes each tour, but thus far we've been able to draw from a tight community who are friends of mine from Nashville. Everyone has to go home and be with their wives sometime except me of course (laughs).

Q: Your album ends with "Where We Gonna Go from Here?" and "Won't Back Down." Every time I listen to the album, I always feel like it could end with "Where We Gonna Go from Here?" because it's so raw, so un-mixed. What drove you to write one more after that?

A: I think that "Won't Back Down" just feels like the end of something, and it's even more stripped down. I thought the whole back of the album was the winding down of all that together, so with the both of them it ended well.

Q: If you had to pick one song to represent "Nothing Left To Lose," which one would it be and why?

A: "Nothing Left to Lose" is very literal to my journey and what I've been through in terms of my journey from Oregon to California (where he went to college and studied literature) to Nashville, and then recording with my buddy (Marvin). We packed up his truck and drove across the country in what was supposed to be a month, and ended up us recording some demos and thereby gaining some label interest. I called home and said I was staying in Nashville, and that began the journey. We ended up raising the money and I recorded most of it on my own."